KEXP BBQ: Pela!

For many who attended the BBQ, Pela‘s rousing set was a highlight. The memorable performance inspired not only the audience but the band themselves. Here’s singer Billy McCarthy from the prolific Pela Tour Blog:

Iâ€™m raising my arms and the biggest crowd i have ever played for is cheering and screaming. A giant beach ball is bouncing throughout the huge crowd. I am singing my heart out to an outdoor panoramic of heads.I look to my right and the DJ, John in the morning from KEXP is crowd surfingâ€¦

I can see the tall buildings of Seattleâ€™s downtown surrounding the park and people a hundred yards away on the lawn dancing.

Kids, old people, teenagers, families dancingâ€¦ just so surreal. I saw a little kid in a PELA shirt! I even met Derek from Pretty Girls Make Graves backstage. I told him i was so afraid to introduce myself way back when. We had a laugh. I saw so many Seattle musicians i admired. And i couldnâ€™t be more proud of my band. We came to represent NYC, my new home and we played our asses off.

The emotive frontman and the band provide great photography fodder, as you’ll see from this slide show from our team of photographers (thanks to Mike, Ron, Chona, and Dan), and hey, even kids like Pela!

By the way, Pela are playing this Saturday, August 25, at the Bowery Ballroom for all of you NYC area listeners. Check their MySpace page for more details. If our photos (and wild raving about the band) aren’t enough to get you there, here’s an account of their recent Minneapolis show, sent in to the Morning Show yesterday:

JITM:

I’m just now (11:20) getting into the office after seeing Pela last night. Holy crap!! What a fantastic performance. More heart, more energy, and more soul could not be found. And the 30 or 40 of us that saw Pela play for two hours were treated to something special: hanging w/ the band til 3:00 and sucking down enough booze to reform an alcoholic.

Highlight(s) of the night:
* Getting not one, not two, but three hugs from a pretty smashed Billy McCarthy

* The bartenders allowing the band to smoke on stage….Mpls passed a city-wide smoking ban and I have not seen anyone smoke in a bar in two years. With that performance, the barkeeps would’ve let them do a brick of pure China-white up there.

* Pela playing a Pixies-cover that was better than what Frank Black would have done…and I know you love the Pixies.

* Did I mention the booze? I think so…

* The small crowd who saw the show. No a-holes. No annoying loud ass calls to friends in the middle of the performance. No annoying pictures being taken by the guy who is ALWAYS in the way. Nothing. Just 30 or 40 people singing every song and appreciating the effort by four guys who give a crap about what they do.

Again, thanks for introducing me to Pela. You’re doing God’s work over there my friend.